Antibacterial personal care compositions are known in the art. Especially useful are antibacterial cleansing compositions, which typically are used to cleanse the skin and to destroy bacteria and other microorganisms present on the skin, especially the hands, arms, and face of the user. Several different classes of antibacterial agents have been used in antibacterial cleansing compositions. One such agent, quaternary ammonium compounds, are effective cleansing agents, however, these compounds can cause irritation to the epithelial tissue of the user, particularly the skin and eye tissue.
Various attempts have been made to mitigate the irritation of quaternary ammonium compounds to the skin and eye. Mitigants have included combining quaternary ammonium compounds with nonionic compounds, maltodextrin, urea, benzoate salts, and ethoxylated lanolin or alkoxylated fatty amines. Another mitigant found capable of decreasing irritation has been to combine quaternary ammonium compounds with mixtures of alkamine oxide surfactants with nonionic materials.
While these mitigants provide some comfort to the consumer, a need exists for a phase stable, effective quaternary ammonium germicide that effectively and sufficiently reduces irritation to animal tissue, particularly skin and eye tissue.